Love Before It's Too Late
by Cryssy-miu
Summary: Fate has a way of bringing certain things together when you least expect it and don't want it.


_(RP with my friend Miccha. I play Celestia, Luna, and Fluttershy; she plays Discord. If the story format seems weird it's because it's a role play. Based off the "Broken Spirit" universe.)_

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"Now, hold still Angel," Fluttershy ordered softly, nuzzling her little bunny's paw whilst carefully going to remove the embedded thorn. "Oh, I know it hurts."

Angel whined in pain, ears back and tears threatening to brim as the curved object burrowed deeper into his skin. He glared over when Discord seemed to smirk at his pained whining from where he was staring at the rain. Fluttershy followed her pet's eyes.

"Discord," she scolded her wayward companion, frowning sternly at the creature. "It isn't nice to take enjoyment in Angel's pain. You wouldn't like it if I had to pluck a thorn from YOUR paw, would you?"

The draconequus' ears perked up at Fluttershy's disapproving voice, but she could see his mischievous grin in the reflection of the rain-soaked window, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling dramatically "Oh, I just couldn't imagine the pain. Poor little marshmallow," he lamented as he turned from the boring view of rain and mud to face patient and nurse. "Perhaps I can help~!" He lifted a glowing claw.

A flash of golden light suddenly engulfed the small roll of bandages laying by Fluttershy's side, unraveling itself in long ribbons of white before shooting past the filly towards the rabbit. Discord snickered gleefully as he watched the bandages wrap around Angel like a cotton constrictor before the poor bunny even had a chance to squeak. The glowing ceased when he was fully covered head-to-fluffy-toes like a bunny mummy, only a tiny slit of button eyes peeking out angrily from his cocoon before he fell over with a soft 'thunk!'

"There! All better!" Discord cackled as Angel flopped his little rabbit feet uselessly in the air.

Fluttershy's eyes widened at the spirit's words and she cast Angel a desperate glance. "No, no - I don't think we need any he - EEP!" The pegasus hopped back just in time as the roll of cotton engulfed the rabbit, nearly getting the tip of her tail with it. Fluttershy watched helplessly as her poor bunny took a rather ungraceful flop.

She paid no mind (for now) to the snickering spirit as she used this opportunity to gently extract the thorn. Actually, as much as the pony didn't want to admit it, he _had_ helped with his spell. Angel wasn't able to jerk away and therefore the process was far less painful than she feared it would be.

Still, Fluttershy knew she needed to keep her impish creature in line; she had told him to omit the animals from his pranks and he hadn't obeyed. (But when did he ever?) The pony fluttered behind the naughty spirit, a vengeful smirk on her face as she managed to tackle him to the ground. Angel was still bandaged, but he managed to peek his beady eyes out from the cracks in the fabric. The eyes focused a pleased smirk on the hapless Discord.

Discord didn't even have time to snicker out a last proper chuckle before a familiar weight crashed into him, sending him to the ground. He quickly slithered around, facing a smirking Fluttershy. Mismatched scarlet eyes narrowed, eying the expression on the pony's face warily. Never a good sign. "Fluttershy…" he warned, but choked on whatever threat he had tucked under his tongue when she brandished the feather duster.

"Nah-ah-ah!" The spirit tried his darnedest to wriggle away from his merciless guardian, but his feathered nemesis swayed tauntingly above his stomach with every movement. His claw twitched threateningly, mind reverting to thoughts of gaining the upper hand. Really, she'd have a hard time trying to vanquish a porcupine.

Fluttershy's giggled, although it was hard to hear over Discord's laughter as she swished the feathers back and forth over his desperately wriggling stomach. Really, if Discord was well behaved there would be no fun in life what-so-ever. It was fun to punish him...if that didn't sound too sadistic.

"Well again," the pegasus pointed out cheerfully, giving the draconequus a chance to catch his breath. "I could always just tell Celestia; I'm sure her punishments wouldn't be as fun." She shivered slightly at the thought of what Celestia might do. She'd obviously turn him to stone..or maybe turn him to stone and drop him at the bottom of the sea. She shivered for a few moments, but catching his confused and ever-so-slightly-maybe concerned look she resumed the attack, using her snout to nuzzle his stomach instead. It was a far more effective weapon anyways.

A crash of thunder abruptly shook the house, causing Fluttershy to squeak with fear and dart under the safety of Discord's tail.

Discord giggled, guffawed, and squealed embarrassingly as he was tormented by another round of ticklish torture, his helpless, high-pitched cries of surrender only answered by Fluttershy's laughter and the annoying thud of an amused tied-up rabbit.

He found his light-hearted agony short-lived, thankfully, when a clash of thunder shook the house. The pony's assault ceased, and the spirit managed to gasp enough air to lift himself up slightly, looking around as to where the Element of Kindness ran off to. His eyes darted down, and a sliver of shivering rosette hair peeking out from underneath his tail answered him of Fluttershy's whereabouts.

He smirked. "Awww, is Flutter Butter scawred of a widdle thundie-wundy?" he mockingly cooed, lifting his tail to laugh at her shaking, wide-eyed expression. He noticed that she had dropped the feather duster in her fear, and he used her fumble to lift a claw and poof the wretched thing into a frenzied peacock, noting his brilliance as another flash of lightning startled the animal, sending it scampering up the stairs to wreak havoc. "Oh ho! I suppose rainy days aren't as droll as I thought they were."

Fluttershy squeaked with fear at first when he snatched the duster, worried he'd turn the attack on her. He had launched a returning tickle attack on her a few times, although usually with his feather like tail.

She stared as the giant, multi colored avian fell in front of her, and she watched as it darted up the stairs. "Hey - wait!" Furious, the pegasus zoomed up the stairs, all the while shouting threats down to the laughing spirit as she tried to wrangle the bird.

"Discord, when I get another duster-!"

Discord rolled back in forth in mirth as he preened in the rampant chaos, listening to the delightful sounds of panicky squawks and the shrieking voice of a pegasus trying to be soothing and tolerant of all living creatures, while also trying to keep birdie talons from scratching up her floor.

While eagerly planning his next course of action, Discord's eyes trailed off to the still bound form of Angel. He narrowed his smirk at the helpless rabbit, red eyes gleaming in mischief. "Oh, dear. Did I forget about you~?"

Angel's eyes widened comically behind the bandages, his feet thumping against the floor in frantic morse code for salvation as the spirit slowly floated over to him, grinning that insufferable grin that struck fear in the little bunny's heart. "…!"

The entity lifted up a claw, and with a simple flash, the rabbit hovered up in the air as well. "How about we play a game?"

"Hey - hey - stop!" Fluttershy squealed, watching as the bird charged through the room, bolting about, destroying things, knocking things over. "DISCORD!" Fluttershy shouted, the rare raging moments she had taking hold.

The angry pegasus charged after the peacock, but her eyes widened in horror as it jumped on her bedside table, where one of her favorite bunny ornaments her mother had given her perched there.

"Oh no!" the pegasus gasped tearfully, desperately skidding towards the bedside table, sprawling onto her face on the ground. Her precious ornament shattered in front of her very eyes, and Fluttershy was sure her heart had too. She whimpered as she clutched the broken shards close, watching the peacock as it jumped out the window.

Weeping quietly, Fluttershy walked to the staircase, her head lowered, tears still falling. When she heard Discord's taunting voice and Angel's squeaky, muffled whimpers, the pegasus lost it in an un-playful snarl that frightened even the draconequus. "PUT HIM DOWN!"

The draconequus was in mid-snap of changing Angel's bandages into gummy worms, as per the rules of the first part of the game, when a shrieking voice as ferocious as the thunder that clapped overhead entered the room. Discord dropped the bunny (who thankfully landed on a glob of strawberry jello, the second half of the game) in surprise, ears immediately flattened back in instinct at the loud, harsh voice coming from the normally peaceful and gentle pegasus. Uh oh.

Curious, he floated over to the staircase, hovering at a wary distance from the shaking hooves and heaving shoulders of the Element of Not-So-Much-Kindness-At-The-Moment. He noticed the tears, assuming they were from the thunderclaps from before.

"… What?" he almost snapped, annoyed at having his game interrupted by whatever drama the small pegasus had come up with.

Fluttershy panted heavily, shaking uncontrollably and sniffling back her welling sobs as she tried to focus her eyes on the floor. Okay, maybe she shouldn't get _that _angry - he'd probably apologize as soon as he realized. He knew her mother gave that to her, but honestly Fluttershy wasn't sure if he had enough magic to mend things yet and fix it. He couldn't heal so maybe not..

Her body trembled with sobs. In all honesty he was just a little too much to take at times, despite how much the pegasus loved him more than anything, often wondering if the feeling was mutual. No, probably not. Although she always did remember the kindness he showed when her mother died.

Weeping, Fluttershy whirled from him with a shaking sob, bolting to her room and slamming her door. Fluttershy never slammed doors.

Her ears fell further back as she examined the damage that was her room, but she hardly cared about the slightly torn up bed sheets, knocked over glass or anything insignificant. She only whimpered, trotting back to where the mess of glass lay and scooping them up to take into her bed.

Angel meanwhile wanted to beat the spirit to a pulp. If only he had the physical strength. He could tell when his owner was genuinely upset and it was not often that Discord made the usually much more sensitive pegasus cry.

The spirit blinked as his caretaker never answered, perplexed as the pegasus ran back up the stairs, the sound of a door slamming shut echoing in the silence. His ears fell back again, undecided, before rising back up as he snorted. What on earth got into her? It was just a little rampant chaos- harmless, really. He's done worse things in the house, and never with true destruction in mind, but it was a daily occurrence. He was the God of Disharmony and Chaos, after all. _Hellooo._

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a feeling of something soft bashing against his leg. Discord glanced down, seeing Angel, somehow managing to stand and glaring up at him, using his squishy head to smack against the spirit in his weak attack. He was probably getting a horrible headache from it.

"What's got your cotton tail in a twist?" was the spirit's malicious reply, giving a small nudge with his knee, strong enough to knock the dizzy bunny back to the ground, where he proceeded to stare at the entity with venomous beady eyes. "Did I spoil your carrot souffle? Now both of you have the grumps?"

All he got was an angry twitch of a tiny pink nose.

Discord groaned, slithering up the stairs to try and figure out what went wrong. He couldn't see it. Between the mummification of Angel, to the peacock attack, and now the wonderfully chaotic storm strengthening outside the house, he thought it was becoming a rather splendid day. The draconequus pouted. Well, the sooner she came out of her room, the sooner he could douse her in chocolate milk!

Now he stood in front of her door. He tilted his head, running a claw down the frame. Heaving a sigh, his tail thwacked against the side in his form of a knock. Now was not the time to be silly? Oh, please. "Oh, Flutter Butter~!"

The sound of her heart broken weeping could be heard from the other side of the door, and it wasn't the cries Discord normally heard. There had only been a couple other pranks that made her weep in total heartbreak, one of the only times he had actually felt guilt too. One time was when he created the illusion of a small duckling to be snapped up by the illusion of a crocodile in a forest walk; another was a similar thing, except with a butterfly.

The sobs now were quiet, trembling, and purely heartbroken. Angel had managed to worm his way up the stairs by dragging his body up the wooden steps, using his ears like mountain picks. He blinked, gazing at the door. Easily the bunny burrowed his head under the crack of the door slightly, just enough to see the form of his owner on the bed, holding a shattered..something.

Angel's ears went back. Discord had destroyed some ornament of hers. Of course he didn't catch it was the one her mother gave her. The rabbit pulled his head out with difficulty, gazing sadly at the spirit and making hand motions.

The sobs that rang in the chaotic entity's ears were different, and not in a good way, like molasses-coated couches or turning a boring plate of hay into caramel clumps. They were hysterical, broken, and created a strange tingle in his chest that made him frown. He used his paw to knock this time, only to cringe as the cries seemed to increase in volume. This was no fun at all!

"What? There's a pony trapped in a well? A cave? There's a half-off sale on carrot cake that you can't bear to miss, what?" Discord snapped as the bunny's gestures fell flat. Angel continued to dance around like a statue come to life (which gave him another idea for later…) until the spirit rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers.

The bandages vanished, leaving Angel to flail even more wildly with his hands free. He pointed at the door, hopping around and making frantic hand gestures that reminded the entity of some hyperactive game of charades.

Discord just stared at him blankly. He despised charades. Why not summon the real thing?

Angel wriggled and growled in the bandages, getting more and more frustrated with Discord's ridiculous, failing guesses. 'No! No! No! No!' The rabbit blinked as he was freed and he skittered up the spirit's back, hopping off his arm and grabbing onto the door knob.

Fluttershy hardly ever locked the door, finding it a little too mean. Therefore it was not locked and Angel twisted the knob, just the slightest bit, peering in.

There she was and there was the glass in her lap. What was that? It was pink, it had eyes.. He grimaced as Discord's head poked in as well, crushing his slightly, Fluttershy not even noticing them. The bunny squinted his eyes, and his ears fell back at the pang of realization of what the ornament was. He looked sadly up at the spirit, who's concern was slightly more prominent.

Discord managed to be quiet as he peeked his head through the crack to see Fluttershy, who was currently laying on her bed, muffling her sobs as she cradled what looked like a pile of broken glass in her hooves.

He squinted. Whatever she was crying about, it didn't look that special. It was just some sort of ornament. Scarlet eyes peered closer, his neck snaking out to catch a glimpse of pink… and bunny-shaped ears…

Oh.

The draconequus slid his head back into the hallway with a wince as he realized his mistake. That wasn't just any dinky little ornament. That shattered pile of ceramic mangle was the soppy present that Fluttershy's mother gave to her as a gift just weeks before she arrived (he remembered because she wouldn't stop talking about it for DAYS).

His regularly indifferent heart sank, and he stared as his claws, a tiny spark of magic fizzling out before him in a pathetic glimmer. He didn't have enough power to repair it on the spot. That would take more magic than he had at his disposal. Only Celestia would have the power to…

"Oh, GAG," Discord muttered quietly as he floated down the stairs, using what little magic he had left to scribble out a note (jelly doughnuts made the best ink for the walls!) before he unlatched the door and, ignoring the freezing pelts of rain that bombarded him from the first step out, went off to bury his pride and whatever pony might get in his way.

Fluttershy didn't notice either creature - one that hopped into the room and gently into her lap to snuggle away her tears. At first the pegasus notably tried jerking away from the touch until she realized it was Angel bunny trying to cuddle in.

The pony really bawled as she buried her face into her bunny's, and she did catch the scaly red tail as it slipped out. So he had seen. Well, why wasn't he apologizing? He was Discord after all - of course he wouldn't. But no - that didn't make sense. Heck, he felt terrible when he made her cry once before. Maybe that was just a one time thing.

Fluttershy didn't care, weeping into Angel's fur and letting the tears splash onto the shards of glass in her hooves as she laid down and curled up miserably.

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Celestia was busy filling out some paperwork in the throne room, trying to balance Twilight's letters at the same time. Her eyes scanned the parchment, heaving an insufferable sigh when Twilight told in detail all the things the draconequus had subtly done to her, such as levitating words off the page when she read, turning books into bananas. Of course.

The deep throb came back to her temples, and the annoyed equine rubbed it away, or tried to anyways. She wasn't sure what was with this headache. She had it since last night, as well as..just pure exhaustion. Well, the work load had doubled over the time of the past few days.

Had the day continued like that, the day might have gone swimmingly, just another day of repetition and routine and all of the things that are typical of royalty-

The princess, however, found herself suddenly frozen with dread as a loud crash echoed in the hall, the sound of the doors to the palace entrance flying open, and the sorely familiar voice of a certain draconequus singing- badly, mind you - out a greeting to his _favorite _ruler of Equestria.

"OH, CELESTIAAAAAA~!"

The princess's smile faded, her head snapping up from her scrolls, and Luna's as well from where she had fallen asleep on the mat in the corner. Both looked at each other, and it slipped out of Celestia's mouth before having the chance to stop it:

"Shit." She mentally face hoofed; she never swore, EVER, but then Discord made you want to do anything..except jump up and down in glee.

"My, my, such a rude greeting, Tia~" Discord's insufferable smirk widened as he made his way to the fellow entity. She probably noticed his dripping fur, noting with glee how she watched in disdain as he splattered bucketfuls of water from his wings as he flapped away. "I don't get to visit you all too often, you know. Short leash and all."

The spirit didn't bother to bite back the sting of venom in his voice as he coiled around a large marble column and, in a fit of genius, spun himself quickly to wring himself out- letting the torrent of water splash onto the two princesses.

"But, I'll let bygones be bygones!" he sang as he slung an arm around a dripping Celestia, his mismatched eyes lighting up at her scowl. "After all, it can't be helped, what with you being so _dreadfully_ boring and all."

Celestia slapped him across the face with her hoof, smirking as he collapsed in shock and pain, whining and holding his face, whilst glaring venomously at her. She hated when he touched her. What an odd thing to hate after so many years - oh, enough of that; that time was over.

"What the hell do you want?" the princess hissed, again resorting to vulgar language to deal with the despicable creature. She sighed, glaring at the mud and water everywhere. With a stomp of her hoof and a magic blast it was gone.

Luna backed far up into the corner, regarding the creature with pain and hatred, her eyes glinting with venomous tears. It was a common reaction when seeing him, and Celestia stepped protectively in front of her baby sister so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"I dee doo dill hadn't godden andy more fun, Dia," Discord grumbled out as he held his throbbing muzzle, standing up with some difficulty as he brushed aside Luna's withering glares. He briefly considered making a few jokes about a millennium of standing in her sister's shadow, but a flash of tear-filled blue eyes and rosette hair made him bite his tongue. The spirit decided to be generous, just this once, his eyes only focused on Celestia.

When he could speak again, he stood before a pair of poisonous glares and readied, sharp horns, the tension thick enough for him to turn into a pile of cheese, but instead he heaved a large, exaggerated sigh.

"As much as I just LOVE your sense of hospitality, I'm afraid I'm not here for a friendly chat," Discord mumbled, finding no humor in the humiliation he was soon to endure.

Celestia looked disheartened as her sister quickly galloped from the room as fast as she could, breathing heavily, an obvious effort to stop the sobs. "Lu-" The door slammed. Celestia gritted her teeth and contemplated beating the spirit to a pulp.

She instead snarled in a dark tone, almost vicious enough to startle the spirit. "Now look what you did! You realize how long it takes me to calm her down after she - so much as SEES your FACE?" She sighed, fluffing her wings and taking a deep breath. "What. Do. You. Want. If it's anything to do with your powers I will send you out the WINDOW in BRUISES."

Discord stared at her, snorting in disinterest at her precious baby sister's problems, conjuring a mirror to look at himself, observing the wild tufts of fur sticking out in all ends, twirling a claw in his tangled goatee. "Hm. I don't see why she's upset. I'm having a fabulous hair day!" His grin vanished as the mirror shattered, clicking his tongue humorously as he poofed the shattered pieces away, smoothing out his fur in an afterthought.

Letting all other jokes aside, the draconequus took her question in stride, his tail tapping against the floor as he mused over how to answer. Well, it WAS about his powers… And he certainly didn't want to be tattooed by black and blue hoof marks on his backside…

"Would you consider a riddle, then~?"

Celestia sighed, eyes roaming up to look at his mane. She had to bite her lip and lower it again, because - albeit - it looked hilarious. There was no way she'd ever laugh around him though, so she kept her head lowered until she was sure she had swallowed the snickers and guffaws.

Her ears flattened in annoyance and she stepped forward threateningly. "So it _is_ about your powers." She could at least hear him out. Oh, but it would be so much more fun to hurt him. Of course, that wasn't in her nature. It wasn't as if she did that with her subjects and he was technically one of them.

"Fine."

Ah, nothing ever gets past her, does it? "From one's folly in fate, when put on a slate, one is found to abate from a mistake," Discord recited, tapping his claws together anxiously as he awaited for her to respond. The mere thought of the … compassion that he was trying to pour out into his riddle made him falter back another gag.

Perhaps he should ask her for the beating instead.

Celestia tilted her head at him, her mouth twitching with growing annoyance and impatience as she finally growled at him. "For the love of Equestria, just spit it out, Discord! Never mind the riddle games." She sighed, falling back on her haunches. "WHAT do you-"

It was then the princess gave a deep, violent cough, nearly stumbling forward and into him as her body shuddered, eyes rolling in their sockets for a brief moment as she gave a gasp. The cough did not sound good; it was deep, shaky, congested, and very tight. Oh well, royalty and immortals could get colds.

"..want?" she croaked out, rubbing her temples to soothe them - both from the stress of dealing with him, and the pain the coughing brought.

Discord's ears fell back at the harsh words and the cough, which made him furrow his brow. "Feeling under the weather, Tia? It sounds like a storm brewing in your throat." The sudden glow of her horn, however, made him return back to his sappy task. "I've broken something. Flutter Butter is, eh, rather upset, and quite frankly, I can't commit any good chaos around that sadsack!" the spirit growled, claws tapping impatiently. "So, I'd appreciate it, Mother, if you gave me an advance on my magical allowance, hm? I've been such a good boy lately."

Celestia looked up at him dizzily, rolling her eyes and muttering something, sounding like his voice and hers was underwater to her. "I'm fine.." Her head snapped back up to him, staring intently through her bleary eyes. He broke something and cared he broke it? That was new.

Perhaps it was reason enough to give him back another small sliver of his power - at least to fix what he broke of hers. She sighed and stood on her wobbling legs. "Oh, alright." The princess let her horn glow with a light, glowing purple hue, and-

something was wrong. Really wrong. This spell - it was so normal and easy - merely flowing his magic into him and just releasing a dam of power, but it was taking so much energy. It was frankly painful as well. Her horn strained desperately, and that's when her vision began to dim.

"Dis.." was all the princess managed to try and cry out before her horn suddenly gave off a small, fizzing pop, and a small explosion, the tip becoming badly charred and the glow diminishing. The princess took a step forward, trying to mutter his name again - and that's when the ground rushed up to meet her face.

It would have been a nasty fall indeed, had Discord not managed to catch her just inches from the ground, his serpentine body coiling around her to cushion the fall. He stumbled as he regained his balance and picked her up, staring down at the limp princess in his arms, feeling her _trembling_, her velvety soft skin growing strangely cold. Her horn was still smouldering, the charred tip reeking of burning magic and calcium.

He felt a small tingle of magic glimmering inside of him, reviving old notions of new chaos to create, but the spirit barely acknowledged the missed feeling of power, hurriedly soaring towards the door to the infirmary. The twists and turns of endless gray walls and sparkling stained glass windows did not falter him in the slightest, finding the room within mere moments, the doors rushing open with a blast of his wings.

He knew the castle like the back of his hand. It used to be his, after all. Not to mention he was raised in it.

Celestia couldn't see him, only a dim, fuzzy black outline, but he felt his gentle paw and talon as he picked her up. Picked her up... The princess wiggled desperately, freaking out at first. She had developed a fear of being touched by him ever since that day.. _That horrible day._

But he managed to hold onto her, which made her panic more. She wasn't able to struggle at all, fire suddenly engulfing her body from the sickness, tears beginning to trickle down her sweating muzzle as she wept into his chest, both from her agony and the fear of him holding her.

Discord grunted in annoyance, holding her firmly to his chest to stop her incessant wriggling. "Really, Tia. Princesses don't squirm," he mumbled, trying to get a hint of everything being okay as he searched for a nurse, a doctor, anything remotely resembling medicine.

"Hm. The service here is rather lousy, Tia," he kept talking to the practically unconscious alicorn, his head twisting this way and that to see nothing but an empty room. "I'd even settle for a plant with a stethoscope. It probably has more reaction time than your precious staff."

His humor fell short, unfortunately, and after a few more nanoseconds of holding a sweating, feverish pony whimpering in his arms, the spirit frowned and conjured up a podium with a bell on top (a sign below stating Ring For Service). "Ah! Perhaps this will stir up some cha- er, help." Quickly, he plucked up some cotton balls from a nurse's station, gently plugging them in the princess's ears. "Trust me on this~!"

Refraining from running a claw through Celestia's damp mane, he slammed a paw down on the bell. Repeatedly. Again and again and again and again, filling the infirmary with sharp dings and rings and things that zing- Discord cleared his throat to stop any giggles. Even HE knew now was the time to be serious. … Yeah, right. "HELLOOOO~! PRINCESS IN DIRE NEED OF MEDICAL ATTENTIONNNN~! WHOEVER SHOWS UP FIRST GETS A CHAOS-FREE KEYCHAIN!"

He grinned as he waited for assistance, looking up innocently from Celestia's annoyed glance, having gained enough consciousness to hear him through the earplugs. What? SOMEONE was bound to come from that announcement, at least.

Celestia considered her insistent squirming and panicking even in her unconsciousness, her tired mind still sensing the pair of gentle - no, not gentle, just..arms, his arms around her. She didn't want to think of him as 'gentle.' Well, she did, but she couldn't. Ever.

Celestia tried to snarl out an order for him to let go of her, but all that arose was an incoherent whimper and gibberish.

Rain Drizzle, Celestia's faithful servant and close friend quickly scurried down the hall, ears flattening when she saw the despicable varmint. Her eyes quickly trailed to the deathly ill princess and her beige coat paled several shades. "My princess!" she gasped, hurrying up and gently taking Celestia's face in her hoof. "Darling, are you alright?"

There of course was no response, the once again unconscious princess having actually buried herself in Discord for warmth from the sickly chills. Rain Drizzle hurriedly ordered a few servants who called a large crew of doctors that came bustling in.

"Seems that your precious princess has come down with something while on her pedestal," Discord analyzed, ignoring Rain Drizzle's indignant huff as he pretended not to notice the Ruler of Equestria burying herself against his cinnamon fur, actually ... _nuzzling_ the warmth and making bite his tongue to prevent a few misleading giggles, flashing a strained, seemingly nonchalant grin for the alicorn's servant. "My guess is that she's held her nose up so much that she finally caught a cold!"

Rain Drizzle glared harshly at the impudent brat before her, shaking her head and wondering how her grandmother dealt with such a creature. She looked over the princess. She..did not look good, and it did not look like a cold..at _all._Celestia looked severely sick, maybe even..deathly sick. But how? How so quickly? The unicorn could tell the princess was severely feverish.

"That's not a cold," Rain Drizzle whispered, a couple of the doctors trying to take the princess...and having trouble prying her clammy hooves off Discord.

Discord hid a wince as they managed to pry the alicorn off of him, her hooves scraping desperately against his side as she flailed to find that comforting warmth. He did not, in fact, conjure up a few banana peels to watch the nurses slip and slide across the infirmary, nor did he even lift a claw to turn the gurney a few of the doctors were rushing over to them into a large batch of frosted brownies. Instead, he sat back and watched as the staff carefully placed their beloved monarch on the bed and rushed off, leaving the spirit alone and unconsoled, watching the swinging doors on the emergency room swing back and forth, back and forth…

After a few moments of perhaps an eternity or two, when Rain Drizzle stepped back into the room, her face lined with worry and haggard anxiousness, she found the God of Chaos in a strange position.

Sitting in a chair, an actual chair made from actual chair parts, not a sliver of cheese or an ominous soap bubble to be found. His fur was once again ruffled and unkempt, his expression fleetingly fascinated by the polished tiles on the floor as his claw quietly stirred a lukewarm (untouched) glass of chocolate milk.

She almost took a step back from the sight. In all of her years as Celestia's servant, in all of the stories that her grandmother had regaled her with of horrific playtime antics and ghastly recollections of trying to feed a youngling entity of disharmony strained carrots and lettuce, she had never thought she would see it.

Discord... patiently waiting?

Rain Drizzle took a deep breath, trying to take in his expression. He seemed...so lost, and looked sad, and worried.. Perhaps her eyes were merely deceiving her - of course he wasn't worried. Unless he actually did still care for her. Well, he must have since he took her to the infirmary himself. Of course, he could just be trying to keep her alive because he knew she had his power. Rain Drizzle wished she knew the beast like her grandmother did. All she knew was stories; terrible stories from palace servants, villagers, and wonderful and heartbreaking stories from her grandmother.

"Sir..um, Discord.." The unicorn took a hesitant step forward, monitoring the floor for banana peels or soap. There were none. _There were none?_

"The doctors are looking over her, but we.." Rain Drizzle bit her lip, fighting the sobs, although failing to wrench her face up and stop the flow of tears. "I-I'm not sure if she'll.. We have never seen this before and we...don't know ho-how to treat..it.."

The spirit felt his talons grip the glass so tightly, he heard a fleet of tiny crackles; small rivulets of chocolate milk drizzled through his fingers onto the floor.

"Uh huh." His expression, strangely enough, did not change. It remained... plain. Not upset. Not angry. Not even playful. Just plain. "I see."

It was so uncharacteristic and strangely eerie, Rain Drizzle had a difficult time trying to maintain eye contact with the unmoving mismatched scarlet pupils.

Rain Drizzle kept her distance from her grandmother's child, studying his expression. She was confused. If he did care he should be reacting to finding out Celestia could possibly die. Possibly... Oh no, no - Celestia couldn't die. Celestia was their princess, their ruler, the heart of the land. Luna couldn't do it on her own.

"I...um.." Rain Drizzle took in a breath. "Do you want to see her? She's pretty freaked out right now. Sh-she might be comforted by you being near her."

_That_ he very much doubted. "Oh, well, I wouldn't dream of refusing such a request," the spirit smoothly answered as he stood, brushing off imaginary dust from his shoulders, running his talons through his messy fur. "After all, Tia and I are just like that." A crossed pair of sharp claws rose theatrically, clipping the air with a sharp 'snip' as he floated his way through the swinging doors, finding that the strange tingle in his chest grew as he made his way to the alicorn's bed.

There was only one thought that ran through the stressed spirit, and that was how the resemblance was sickeningly uncanny. The paleness, the shriveled visage, dead sickly eyes - all so terribly familiar to a certain death he unintentionally caused so long ago. Of course it wasn't like Celestia's illness was any fault of his (although drenching her probably made her sicker), but never had Discord seen a soul so ill...since that day.

Celestia barely managed to crack her eyes open, only able to see the faint outline of him. Part of her wanted to snarl at him to leave her and never come back. Another part yearned for his touch. His touch..Ha! Who was she kidding? It wasn't as if his touch was affectionate or the least bit caring.

Yet the alicorn still yearned for it. Her conflicting emotions making tears spill heavily over her sunken cheeks.

The spirit drew back slightly, shutting his eyes to try and erase those terrible memories, inhaling deeply and cringing at the strong stench of medicine and antiseptic that sunk into his lungs. He kept his eyes closed as he found comfort in the darkness- not wanting to see it again, hating, _dreading_ the very sight of the once vibrant and enigmatic alicorn lying in front of him, appearing so frail and unimaginably weak. Celestia. On her deathbed.

_No!_ a voice suddenly hissed in his mind. _Stop that nonsense! Deathbed? Hah! This is Tia. Whatever it is, it's definitely nothing worse than what you've put her through centuries ago._

Well, wasn't that a comfort.

Discord wondered if now was the time to realize that he was arguing with a strange voice in his head when he opened his eyes at the sound of a muffled sob. The tingle grew into an unbearable sting at the sight of the alicorn's tears gathering in the corners of her pale, fading eyes.

Unable to stop himself, he lifted his paw (not noticing how it trembled), and gently brushed it over a pale, sunken cheek. He would have marveled at how cold she felt, like velvet-coated ice, but the alicorn gave a tiny jerk away, and he pulled back. A few seconds later, after she finished sobbing and writhing, she seemed to give him another look, however dizzily she rose her head.

He accepted her silent request, brushing his paw against her skin again, trailing up to run it carefully through her damp pastel mane, slick with heat and chills all at once.

Celestia gazed up at him weakly, and she saw...the...pain in his eyes? That wasn't possible. Discord wasn't capable of feeling pain. Well, not emotional anyways. He hadn't been for some time now. If he had then maybe he would have actually showed he had missed her over the years of agonizing separation.

The princess found herself weeping. That hadn't been what she wanted. She had no way of knowing the Elements would stone him - it wasn't her fault! ...But it was. It _was_ her fault, because she was stupid enough to use them - both times, and not anticipating what would come of it. She knew the Elements couldn't be controlled as to what they decided and yet she risked it. It was all _her_ fault.

The weeping princess drew back in terror when he touched her face, and her body froze up - if it was possible to freeze anymore - when he gently ran his soft, soothing paw over her cheek. The feeling was so archaic and terrifying. She hated it, but at the same time..it was something she yearned for for _a thousand years._

After several moments, the princess swallowed her sobs and looked at him with a pleading look.

Discord stood there for countless minutes, perhaps even hours, just stroking the alicorn's skin and combing his claws carefully through her mane. Though he knew that she felt nothing but disdain for him, him and his disorderly antics and his lack of restraint for the mischievous side of magic, his touch seemed to offer a small bit of comfort. Really, knowing the pain she must have been going through was understandable enough. The fact that she was not even trying to pull away from him- either by acceptance or a lack of strength- and even wished for him to remain here was baffling enough for the poor spirit.

_And to think, all it took was a sudden, life-threatening illness to finally make her accept you._The voice began again, its tone less joking and more observant.

He brushed the mocking thought aside, while also brushing a small lock away from Celestia's face. The spirit wanted to speak, to tell her a silly story, perhaps to critique her on just how awful she looked right now, and how as Ruler of Equestria, she really should put more effort into regal appearances, like a mask of cake frosting or pumpkin pie hair gel.

But he didn't. Now, he knew, this was no time for joking.

Celestia raised her shaking, sweaty hoof and clutched to the tufts of his fur, trying to get a grip. She managed to gently ease herself into his fur slightly, having to grip it tightly so she wouldn't fall back. She sobbed quietly into him, wanting so bad to nuzzle him.

His touch..it was so soothing, so gentle..so..lov - no. No, not as far as love. It would never go as far as loving - never again. Yet she wished, and it almost did feel that way. It was sincere, affectionate.. So maybe he did still care. Unless all he wanted her alive for was his powers. No, then he wouldn't be holding her.

_Why can't you just accept it?_ her mind harshly scolded her. _Why can't you just accept he's not the vicious monster you wanted to believe he was? You wanted to believe that to save yourself the pain..._

Her head felt so heavy, an unsettling darkness trying to overtake her. Just what did she have? Neither of the two noticed the blue form at the door, her starlight mane twinkling and rippling in the dead silence.

The silence was starting to get to the normally talkative spirit. He wanted to say something, anything that would muffle the dreary rhythm of Celestia's quiet, feverish sobs. Just standing there and offering comfort, a foreign act in itself for Discord, and not to mention the fact that she seemed to need him here, made his claws itch for a snap of magic. His eyes drifted towards a jar of tongue depressors, and immediately he began to deduce all sorts of wonderful, chaotic things that could borne from a simple wave of his hand.

His tail began to twitch, hearing it scrape against the floor listlessly. His ears tilted towards the sound, away from the princess's quiet whimpering. Being stuck in a place of such order was so…

_Boring._

The smallest thing could perk up this room, the spirit knew this. A random lollipop garden here, a simple cotton candy cloud rainstorm there, a pool of chocolate milk in the corner would make it almost bearable to stay inside. Chaos. Chaos was better than order. That was what he knew.

But here, in an infirmary, order was the only thing that was keeping the alicorn alive.

Celestia wept into his fur, both loving and loathing his gentle touch, the way that soft, golden paw kept in constant, gentle rhythm in her hair and face. It felt so nice and cool on her burning cheeks, and his fur was just so..comforting. The princess had leaned into him, almost a very weak hug like gesture, and she barely realized it.

Luna had. Luna just stood there at the door, staring. This - was she still dreaming? It had been more than abrupt when Rain Drizzle disturbed her from her sleep, so perhaps she was still half asleep and trapped in the subconsciousness stemmed from her fragments of her broken heart that she so _desperately _wished was real.

The night alicorn quietly advanced into the room; now Celestia's sobs, Luna's hooves, and probably the silent sound of Discord's heart breaking was all that was heard.

The draconequus fretted away with a random chip of paint on the wall as his paw was preoccupied; he was etching a rather hilarious scene of ponies in a pie fight when his ears perked up at the sound of familiar hooves entering the room.

_Aww._ The voice hissed, dripping with venom as it recognized the new presence. _Little Lulu came for a visit. Isn't that sweet? She probably has a horn with your name on it, too._

His head snaked around to look at the younger princess, unable to leave Celestia's side. He quirked a brow at her strange expression.

Luna looked half-dazed and groggy, having just been woken up from her beauty sleep, her hazy little mind probably still teeming with pleasant ways to destroy the spirit. She was slowly waking, but she must have noticed the odd picture this made, because her disturbed expression made Discord's lips twitch. Oh, she looked absolutely dumbfounded. Very fitting.

Luna tried to keep a distance from him, but the very presence of him caused the young alicorn to quake with fear. Where Celestia had developed rage and bitterness to him, Luna feared him and cowered at being near him. The night alicorn felt her vision hazing with tears as she saw him, and this was before even laying eyes on her sister.

The poor girl was rooted to the spot, unable to take another step. She only stared at the pale, nearly lifeless face of Celestia - Celestia who was still nuzzled into the spirit's fur. _Nuzzled in..._The very sight made Luna's legs nearly rear back in shock, but she couldn't move. Every notion of being in the same room with him threatened to bring more tears.

The idea of turning the floor that the sniveling blue alicorn stood on into butter gleamed faintly in his mind before a sharp hitch of breath from the bed made him whirl his head back around.

Celestia twitched, her very movements feeble and desperate. Discord leaned forward, his stomach twisting in unbreakable knots. The spirit felt the urge to run away, to wrench himself away and dart past Luna and to never return… but she locked onto his gaze with her fading eyes and he was stuck.

"… Tia?" He heard himself whisper, voice low and filled with hushed dread. He didn't like that, but she tilted her head towards him, and his paw tightened his hold in the soft strands of pastel mane ever so slightly.

The princess licked her dry, dehydrated lips. She found it was hard; she barely had any saliva left to wet them or speak. Therefore her voice was dreadfully cracking and hard to make out, but understandable. She felt the fingers of unconsciousness trying to pull her under. No, it wasn't unconsciousness.. This darkness was new and unwanted. She knew what it was.

"I...I never...I never wanted it.." the princess whispered, the last of her hydration seeping out in her heart broken tears. She saw him shake his head understandably to what he figured she meant the sickness, but she gripped him tighter.

"No..I...I mean...I never...I never wanted...you stoned." She gave a rasping sob. "All I wanted...was to have you back..the way you were. I never wanted to believe you were...a monster, and I never let myself believe it. I lo...love you regardless of what you had done..." She failed the realize her dreadful, unveiling error: she hadn't said "loved."

She coughed fiercely, whimpering from the pain, her head nodding against him. "I never wanted it... All I wanted to see was you again..who you used...to be."

He felt his heart sink into unfathomable depths. _Love?_

NOW? She thought that now, on her deathbed, her life-force draining away before his eyes, she was willing to admit the impossible? The High Ruler of Equestria, the entity of justice and order and harmony matching all the surrealism that the spirit had obtained from centuries of turmoil and mischief in one statement?

Discord thought he may have heard his mind snap. Everything was not making sense now. Sudden, random, unforeseeable news that crept up into his ears and sat there and laughed maniacally in his brain at the irony. This was his domain, and he was the outsider.

He stared down at that pale, unfamiliar face, but he did not see it. His mind was a whirl, blurs of color and texture and the draconequus really thought he DID feel his brain finally turn into cotton candy, melting away and leaving a sugary sweet bitterness lingering behind.

Did she have any idea how long it took him to stop hating her? What she did to him? Forced to wait, stuck in stone and unable to move, for days, weeks, months, years, centuries… The chaos writhed inside of him, searing his bones with repressed antics that filled his mind with so many thoughts of _chaos_ and _disorder_ and _ordermustbedestroyed_ that he wasn't sure if it would be raining one day or if his brain finally cracked and leaked across the ground. The sheer lack of freedom became almost as paralyzing as the spell, causing the magic to bubble up and over countlessly over his soul like a shaken bottle of carbonated explosive chocolate milk. But it had no place to go. And it tasted horrible.

There he was, lost in himself with nothing but an endless abundance of ideas - so many ideas! - Chaos. It was all he knew, all he wanted. The power inside of him craved mayhem, the unpredictability of life. And what did he get for expressing his love? Imprisonment.

All of that power inside of him, and no way to let it out. Torture. Unforgivable torture. All those years… All those centuries, watching the seasons change and ponies grow and die in between thinking and sleeping. That was all he could do. Watch. Frozen in time, but time rushed ahead. A statue forced to wait. And wait. And wait. Stuck. With nothing but his own sanity to keep him company (that lasted about, oh, ten minutes).

Disorder. Disharmony. Disarray. Disorganization. Disruption.

_Discord._

And then he was back. Back in the infirmary. Back with Celestia, in the cold, dim, boring, plain, ordinary room. Back to hear her final words.

To know that… what they had… was still alive?

The spirit heard a strange pitch in his voice, warbling and strained, and he tasted the dread on his tongue. He suddenly found it hard to keep his paw up, the trembling fingers fumbling to keep its steady pace in her mane.

"I…" _Love you._"I'm still here."

Luna had heard it all, and her very form sunk deeper with every word. Like her sister she had never wished such a fate on the spirit she had grown up with. How could she? How could either of them? He was her big brother; the one that protected her from dangers, soothed her nightmares, teased her like an older brother was apt to do. Her brother...

Her brother that she couldn't even look at right now without feeling the tremor of fear riding through her spine, without feeling the bile rising up her throat and threatening to eject itself..without the anguished tears of incomprehensible pain filling her eyes.

Of course he wasn't her brother anymore, and he never would be again. Those days were over. He relished in the fear he created in them. The very day after her parents died suddenly he was there trying to take over the throne, using his horrid marionettes on them, turning them into his own personal puppets. The memory haunted her.

Yet the alicorn knew... nothing had changed. The hatred was born from fear, and he had always desired the throne from the moment he was a colt. Everything he did though never changed the fact they grew up together, they were raised together under the same loving guardians, they played together, they slept in the same bed after one of them would tearfully confess a fear of sleeping alone, they spent the nights watching stars and practicing to make them, they grew up...as one.

And that hadn't changed. It never would.

Celestia hadn't the energy to weep anymore, her head laying limply in the pillow, unable to hold onto him anymore; she wasn't even able to bury into his warm cinnamon fur any longer. The last of her tears fell down her face, mingling with the perspiration and matting into her mane.

"I didn't know...the Elements..would do it.. You have no idea..how often...I cried at night...how often I dreamed...of the way things used to be." She looked at him with tearful sincerity in her eyes. "How often I missed you..wanted you back..in the family.. I...I..was.." Her voice was slurring with the incoherency of impending death.

"...I..I was ssst..stupid..to use the Elements. I knew...I couldn't tame..or control their power.." She took a couple deep breaths, what looked like her final few.

Discord wanted to clamp his paw down on her mouth when she spoke, for a number of reasons. It was true. She was stupid to do that to him. He couldn't admit it to her _now_, but her confession made his tilting world a little more stable for the moment.

Mismatched scarlet dully watched the dying alicorn, the vermillion depths lacking the regular sparkle that may have been a comfort in a time such as this. His claws trailed across her face, feeling the fleeting pulse stutter underneath her alabaster skin. An ache began to thrum in his chest as he watched her begin to heave for air. Who knew this could happen? In such a short time...

The sniffles of the younger princess beside him did not even irritate him. He almost wished that he could do he same. In fact, Discord found that it was getting very difficult to see anything in that room, and he let out a small, inconceivable sound, feeling a trickle run down his face.

His claw caught it, and he saw it glisten distantly in his grasp before it dropped off, landing on the velvet-white skin beneath.

The draconequus snaked his head down to look more determinedly into her dull, unfocused eyes. To make sure she could _see_ him. "It's okay, Tia."

Celestia's closed eyes shot open a final time when she felt that delicate drop land in the middle of her cheek. She thought it was her own at first, until realizing it came from above. The princess could scarcely believe the mourning wet glistening in his eyes, and her heart further broke, two final tears making their way out.

Celestia hated to see him cry. At the same time, it was an amazing sight and one that at least indicated he did still care. Still, it was just a reflex; you see your former family member cry, you want to soothe it. So the princess summoned the last bit of strength inside her as she rose from the pillow, weakly propelling herself with a hoof. She was unable to reach up and wipe his tear, but her wisp of hair did that, brushing across his wet eyelids.

The princess fell gently into his lap, and she shifted around for a few moments, before going completely still. The magic hue surrounding a tube that was in her veins faded as the desperate spell from the doctors failed.

Discord clenched his eyes shut, feeling the tears begin to spill down his face as the warm body that fell onto his lap slowly grew cold. That was it. She was gone.

Luna couldn't contain her cries anymore, willingly drawing herself towards the spirit's side to sob into the blankets that cradled her beloved sister's body. Her hooves scrambled against the side of the bed as she rose to stand and lean over her, leaning forward to give her older sister one last gentle, loving nuzzle.

When she pulled back, however, she flinched as she saw a sudden form of cinnamon fur slowly edging to her side, turning to see Discord's neck stretching past her.

The night alicorn watched in muted grief as the God of Chaos drew his face to Celestia's, his eyes watery and pained as he rubbed against her soft skin, nuzzling her as he held her closer.

Luna wept uncontrollably, crying hysterically, her voice coming out in rasping sobs as she held her sister close. Her beloved sister, the one that had willingly given her a second chance at life, the one that kept loving her no matter what. The one that consoled her when HE betrayed them...

The alicorn felt a welling sense of anger and pain when she saw him nuzzle the sun alicorn. She wanted so badly to slap him - anger blurred her vision for a moment. When she could see again Discord was suddenly on the floor, a dark red hoof mark across his face. Luna drew back slowly in rage, hate, and fear...and pain. She turned on her hoof and fled from the room in record speed.

As the celestial princess laid there silently in the dark room, the invisible tendrils of magic from the doctor's and Rain Drizzle's spell subtly began to work on the now dead body.

The spirit didn't even feel the harsh slap of Luna's hoof, watching the frantic silhouette fade into the distance as he was sprawled out on the cold floor. The throbbing on his cheek was a mere tap compared to the agony he felt as he stared at the deceased alicorn. Lifting himself up, he shakily made it back over to the bed.

It seemed almost too easy. How could a simple germ commit such damage in mere minutes? How could Tia meet her end without so much as a sniffle? There had been no warning, no time to prepare.

"... You... shouldn't be gone," he murmured. A claw traced the delicate contours of her face. "Not when I know... I still care."

The strings of magic became visible in a soft, rainbow hue as they slowly seeped into her body, entwining with her innards and bringing them slowly back to life. The princess's eyes still did not flicker, but slowly she regained consciousness. It still looked as if she was dead though.

Celestia could hear though. She couldn't see, speak, or even breathe, but her hearing had returned. She heard the quiet, anguished murmur of his words. The last line she caught: _I still care..._

He still cared? After all this time, he..really cared, and he didn't want her to leave. The princess fought with the fingers of death still fighting the magic, and the magic seemed to be winning. The pain diminished, warmth returning to her. She still couldn't move, speak, or breathe, but there was now warmth under Discord's finger tips.

Discord's fingertips drew back quickly as he felt warmth bloom across the chilled skin. He stared, the spirit speechless as he watched a rainbow glow encompass Celetia's body, lighting up the room in blends of color as the alicorn began... to...

The draconequus found himself at her side, leaning down to scan her lifeless face desperately. His paw clasped the her cheek, relishing in the warmth that heated up his own skin. "Tia?"

The pastel hue overtook the limp, white body, slightly lifting it on the cushion, and Discord only watched as the rainbow pulse went through the tube, alighting the room with a sudden gentle explosion of sparkles, and the princess delicately fell onto the pillow. Her eyes flickered.

When they opened slowly, the princess could only softly gasp when she saw the tears quietly trickling down the - to say the least - shocked face. "Dis..." She licked her dry lips. "Discord.."

The alicorn jolted as the spirit collapsed beside the bed, on his knees to now be eye-to-eye with her, his tail overturning a table in his surprise. His mismatched eyes frantically observed her face, unable to believe what he was seeing. Her (dazzling) eyes sparkled with life, her mane flowing freely in as she gathered her surroundings.

Discord had never felt such warmth fill his chest.

"Tia? It's... I..." the entity found himself rather scrambled for words as he stared at her. "You... certainly remained rather regal for a ghost."

Celestia watched, stunned as he fell over the bed. She would have emitted a giggle if the situation wasn't so serious, and it she wasn't still just staring at the tears in his eyes. The princess smiled, using magic to gently float him lightly onto the bed.

She did emit a soft laugh. "I suppose...I have." Hesitantly, quietly, the alicorn wiped her hoof over his eyes, getting rid of the remaining wetness.

He flopped back onto the bed with a grin, helping her by catching a tear with his paw. In a swift display, he flicked the drop into the air, a simple snap of his fingers turning it into a pink and brown handkerchief, which he caught and tilted it towards her.

The spirit noticed her tiny, suspicious glance at the offering, rolling his eyes. "Cross my heart."

A second longer, and she took the handkerchief, using it to dab her tears away, pulling back in surprise as she smelled a sweet, sugary fragrance from the cottony cloth. Celestia glanced back at the entity, who gave her an earnest smirk.

"Cotton candy soaks up the soggiest tears."

The princess felt a sudden overwhelming sense of joy, her arms folding around the spirit before she could stop them.

Discord's smirk turned into a wince as Celestia suddenly threw her hooves around him. Not even alive for a few minutes and already she was trying to strangle him? He lifted a claw to teleport out of her reach, but a sudden _nuzzle_a gainst the side of his face made his jaw drop, staring incredulously at the ethereal, sweet face that smiled as if she thought he was the most amusing thing in the world.

Which may have actually been the case. She did refer to him as a clown in many of their past conversations. Along with "abomination", "miscreant", "annoying", "unbearable waste of magic", and-

Another nuzzle made him twitch, and he forgot what he was talking about as he just sat there and let himself be... affectionately assaulted.

Celestia stayed buried into the warm, cozy fur, ignoring the way he stiffened in discomfort. Of course he would, but the princess just..needed him. She just had the overwhelming desire to be at his side right now, and have some sort of physical contact with him.

She barely noticed she had begun to weep out of sheer emotional distress and confusion as she cried into him and trembled. Too much crying wasn't too good right now, with the threat of sickness still looming over her.

Discord was partial to just sitting there like a lump until she let go, but when she began to cry again, he realized that he wasn't going to stop being her large patchwork teddy draconequus for a while. He furrowed his brow, curious as to what to do next. He wasn't exactly _trained_ in the art of being... really... comforting.

Summoning the handkerchief once more, the spirit carefully redirected the alicorn's attention by petting her mane with his paw, while awkwardly dabbing at her face with the sweet cloth. The fact that he was giving an effort was rather impressive. Well, he thought so, at least.

Celestia lay limply against his chest, no longer severely weak, but just emotionally drained. She herself didn't feel tired, just..her mind, did, her heart did.

The alicorn curled into his chest with a quiet mewling whimper, letting the tears flow and burying into him. Getting severely ill, having the one you thought hated you save your life, learning that he still cared for you, and coming back to life was - quite frankly - a lot to take in one day.

Discord thought of a way to (escape!) help as the alicorn snuggled deeper into his chest. He understood the look of exhaustion that crept onto Celestia's face, the faint tremble in her hooves as she tried to keep her grip tight on his form. Perhaps he needed to call her servant to assist them. Certainly, she would be thrilled at the sight of her beloved princess once against alive, and more than willing to care for her in his place. Excellent! The spirit grinned to himself. Now. What was her name? Drain... Fizzle? Sprain... Wizzle? Train Quizzle? Mary Ann?

_Oh, now's not the time to get cold feet!_ His mind chided. _Put on some slippers and gain some backbone! It's a hug, not a death sentence!_

Okay. Discord was seriously considering going to see a psychologist. There were two minds at work here.

"... So," he clicked his tongue as he slowly, carefully wrapped an arm around the fellow immortal. A second later, and the other arm joined in a limp embrace. "Is it naptime for the princess?"

Celestia smiled into his chest as she nuzzled him and he wrapped his arms gently around her. Her body flinched FIERCELY at that, and it tensed in fear. So sad, it seemed this fear of being touched by him would always somewhat linger for a while.

The princess noted he was pulling back when she flinched, so she pulled his arms back around her, needing to get them both over this - well for him, awkwardness; for her, fear.

"I..." The voice came out adorably slurred, her head somewhat flopping against him. "I...not tired..."

He rolled his eyes at her obvious lie. "Now, now, Tia. So transparent. And yet, those dark rings under your eyes are clear as day," the spirit teased, snorting at the thump of an annoyed hoof against his side. He maneuvered the alicorn to her side gently, slipping out from under her to float beside the bed. "But first, we should probably let your subjects and little Lulu know that their Celestia is good and well, yes?"

"Mmph...hrm.." was the only odd, funny, and gibberish response he received from her as her head flopped onto the pillow, already falling asleep. She knew though that there was no way Luna wanted to see him, but the princess was unable to voice it in her exhaustion.

"Now, now, time for beddy-bye." He summoned the the blanket up to her neck, fluffing the pillow and (for the moment) not turning it into a giant marshmallow. He leaned over her one last time, the mischief back in his bright red pupils. As welcoming as it was ominous. "Don't worry your pretty little head! I'm sure they won't suffocate you _too _much. Perhaps after a few joyous choruses and a few 'hip hip hoorays' and a few extravagant parties and you'll be able to get some shut-eye."

A muffled groan made him chuckle, and the entity floated over to the door. Of course he wasn't going to be around for the emotional reunion. He absently rubbed the hoof print on his face, now a bruised patch on his cheek. What, did she think he was an idiot? ... Scratch that. He was leaving before Luna decided to turn him into a patchy throw rug.

"I'll send you a Get Well card, Tia~!"

A snap of his fingers, and a rope dangled in the middle of the room. Discord grabbed a hold, and with a wild grin, pulled the cord, laughing at the loud, rumbling gongs of a large bell echoing inside the palace. Not quite deafening, but it definitely sent the right message.

Barely a blink after the roaring chimes faded did the entity hear the sound of rampaging hooves. Discord flung himself into the air, and with a mere flick of his tail to unlatch the window, leaped out of it before the stampede arrived to welcome back their princess.

Celestia whined into the pillow at his playful words, and her horn, now recovered from earlier, attempted to summon a giant feather to chase after him, but just as it poofed into existence in front of the horrified spirit it disappeared. She was too tired to use magic.

Evidently, the princess was far too tired to deal with the crowd of overjoyed, tearful ponies as they exploded into the room. The sound of loud clacking from glass shoes echoed and the crowd made room for Luna as the stunned, shocked, confused, and everything in between alicorn stepped up to the bed.

Tears drenched Luna's face and she was just about to vigorously nuzzle the white face...until she realized it had already fallen fast asleep, the sweet violet eyes shut in contentment, clutching the blankets close as if it was still him.

Quietly Luna ordered for the ponies to leave, as she stayed laying by her sister's bed, stroking her hoof and murmuring soft words of love and relief.

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With coaxing from Angel, Fluttershy had at last left her room and had left the pieces of her mother's left gift on the bed. Ever glance at it made her want to weep again, so Angel sternly turned her head away. The two had gone shopping, fetching their favorite treats. Even though Angel frowned on it, she had of course fetched Discord a few treats. After all, he didn't mean it. Well, he did, but he didn't realize what he had done.

Now the two laid sprawled on the couch, chewing on caramel apples and watching Hummingway as he performed aerial flips.

In the midst of a triple-decker turn after his fourth barrel roll, Hummingway barely had enough time to dart out of the way as the door slammed open.

"OH, FLUTTER BUTTER! I'M HOOOME~!" the draconnequus sang out as he floated back in, applauding himself for such a spectacular entrance. "I trust you missed me?"

His audience, however, consisting of his guardian, who was currently cowering under the couch from the sudden loud appearance, and the angry bunny sitting on the couch hatefully glaring at him, AND the indignant hummingbird that buzzed loudly in his face from interrupting his trick, made his welcoming reception SO much more enjoyable.

Brushing aside the tiny bird with a dizzying swoop of the furry tip of his tail, he started to make his way up the stairs. "Now, where is that mangled pile of ceramic that you were so upset about?" The spirit snickered at the sound of panicked hooves and threateningly loud bunny feet as he slipped through her door.

It didn't take long to spot the pile of pink glass bunny remains sitting on the bed, and barely gave the shattered pile a second glance, instead granting it a simple wave of his hand.

The pieces of the ornament quivered, rising up in chunks of golden light before being pressed together and swirled around in a vortex of bright light.

Fluttershy stared, quickly recovering from her shock long enough to notice how the glow of his claws were... brighter. More powerful. The theatrical swoops of his fingers as he molded the magical concoction of shattered ceramics together, however, made her not wish to interrupt, almost giggling at the thoughtfully serious(ish) expression on his face.

A few sparkles and a magical 'pop' later, the pink glass bunny was sitting innocently on the floor, good as new.

The fragments of her heart were mended with the ornament as it landed softly in front of her. Fluttershy giggled as she fluffed out her wings, flapping in front of his face.

"You really can...be the sweetest sometimes," she mused, gently grabbing his face in her hooves. She laughed as he whined and pulled away, knowing the embarrassing gesture she was about to do, but the pegasus still managed to hold onto him and give him a very soft kiss on the tip of the nose.

From on the floor Angel was the one making the "gag me" face now.

_Yeeech! _Discord stuck his tongue out at the sickly sweet show of affection, covering his nose with a whine, though it secretly made a funny warm fuzzy feeling in his chest when he saw that famous Fluttershy smile replace that despondent frown. At least she wasn't crying any more.

And as much as he would have loved to leave it at that, the God of Chaos knew he wasn't done yet. His mismatched eyes sliding shut in dread, he heaved a large sigh, hanging his head as he snapped his fingers.

The feather duster, no longer a frantic peacock, popped back into existence and dropped at Fluttershy's hooves, ready for use.

"Just... get it over with," the spirit grumped, arms crossed and ears back like a petulant child.

Fluttershy blinked as the feather duster suddenly appeared at her hooves, tickling the tips of them. The pegasus tilted her head, looking up at the dreading form.

She contemplated the discipline implement she had picked up in her teeth, before tossing it over her shoulder. Discord looked so relieved it was positively endearing. The pegasus wanted to burst out laughing at the happiness in his eyes. She was sooo looking forward to bursting that bubble.

Discord's mind swam with glee, visibly. Maybe the pony had finally seen she needed not to take things so seriously. Or maybe she found a joke in this. Or maybe-

Oh no.

The pegasus's head poked back out of a paper bag on her nightstand, where she had bought treats in the town. In her mouth was a brand new duster with much longer, much more flexible, and much more feathers.

"Oh, well, I'd love to," Fluttershy grinned, wiggled her bum in the air as she got into position, and leaped on the spirit.

"ACK! N-HAHAHAHAHA- N-NO! FLUTTER- HEEHEEHEE- FLUTTERSH-YYY! BE KIND! BE KIND! HAVE MERCY!" he managed out through laughter, feeling his insides burn as he flailed and twisted, trying to escape from the dastardly new super feathery villain of the house. He managed a weak snap, and he poofed off ... about two inches away from where he was.

WHY did he have to use ALL of his magic on the ornament?

Still, he took off into the air, pleading with a maniacally giggling Fluttershy as the pegasus chased him around the living room, while Angel and Hummingway cheered her on.

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_(Man...she writes the best Discord ever. XD Best. Ever. Far better than me. She should be the one writing "Broken Spirit" _

_I guess alicorns can get sporadic, horrid, magical illnesses? XD Made for a nice RP anyways.  
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_Cliche Disney "come back to life by magic" thing. I guess it works in ponies. XD I honestly loved the ending. When Mich had Discord willingly offer the duster to Fluttershy I was giggling hysterically._

_There will be more to come. I actually have another rather hilarious RP in which Discord accidentally injures a few ponies with his pranks and gets in maaajor trouble with Celestia. It might make people feel uncomfortable though so it will stay in my laptop and in our emails._

_Hope you all enjoyed._

_I'm aware there's minor grammar errors, typo, stuff like that. But really, it's nothing significant that I think and I am tired. I'l lfix tomorrow. If there's huge errors...lemmie know.)_


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